CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team picked up the Saturday sweep over Bemidji State University Sat., April 14 at the UMC Baseball Field in Crookston, Minn.  The Golden Eagles relied the pitching of Jayden Grover (So., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) and Justin Yutrzenka (So., RHP, Argyle, Minn.) as they defeated the Beavers 4-2 and 12-0. The Golden Eagles also picked up opportune hits including an inside the park home run in game two from Ben Thoma (Fr., UT, Clearbrook, Minn.).

The Golden Eagles improve to 14-19 on the season. The games were non-conference tilts as the original conference games were slated for Wed. April 11 before being moved to Saturday and Sunday. The conference rule states that mid-week games must be played on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday to count as NSIC games. Bemidji State falls to 4-20 with the losses. The games were the first home tilts for Minnesota Crookston on the 2018 season as the UMC Baseball Field was one of the only fields in the conference and the state of Minnesota that was able to host games due to inclement weather across the state. 

Game One
Grover got the start and earned the victory in the series opener for Minnesota Crookston. He tossed 5.2 innings and gave up just two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the quality start for the Golden Eagles. Zach Seipel (Jr., RHP, Eagan, Minn.) came on and shut down the Beavers in 1.1 innings of work as he picked up his sixth save of the year. Seipel struck out one and walked one with a hit allowed.

Minnesota Crookston scattered five hits in the first game. Reed Hjelle (Jr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) went 1-of-2 with one RBI and one run scored. Scott Mortenson (Sr., OF, East Grand Forks, Minn.) finished 1-of-2 with one RBI. Zach Frazier (R-Sr., C, Grand Rapids, Minn.) and James Cullinane (Sr., OF, San Francisco, Calif.) were each 1-of-2, with Cullinane notching an RBI. Stewart was 1-of-4 with one run for the Golden Eagles.

McNallan got the loss for Bemidji State after allowing one unearned run on one hit in two innings with two strikeouts and a walk. Travis Carruth allowed two runs on three hits in two innings, while Evan Rowe gave up one run on one hit with two strikeouts.

The Beavers had five hits on the opening game. Jack Wittwer led Bemidji State by going 2-of-2. Caleb Carlson was 1-of-3 with one RBI, while Drake Wawro was 1-of-3 with a run scored.

The Golden Eagles started off strong as Stewart opened the bottom of the first with a double down the left field line. Stewart came into score as Hjelle reached on a fielder's choice. The Golden Eagles would have more chances but they would strand two on the base paths.

Minnesota Crookston extended the lead to 2-0 when Mortenson singled to right field to drive in Thoma. A second run scored in the bottom of the third as Jonathan Lund (Jr., 3B, Tolna, N.D.) hit a sacrifice fly to plate Hjelle to move the lead to 3-0.

Bemidji State made a late charge in the top of the sixth as their bats got going. The first run crossed for the Beavers as Scott Litchy came to the dish on an Isaiah Grancorvitz sacrifice fly to center field. Caleb Carlson then singled up the middle to drive in Drake Wawro to cut the lead to 3-2.

Minnesota Crookston extended the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth when Cullinane put down a safety squeeze bunt and David Anaya (R-Sr., 2B, Tucson, Ariz.) came in to score.

Seipel would give up just one walk in the top of the seventh as he shut down the Beavers to preserve the 4-2 win for Minnesota Crookston.

Game Two
Yutrzenka threw a gem for the Golden Eagles in game two as he put up a complete game two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and three walks.

The Golden Eagles also came up with at the plate with 12 runs on 11 hits. Hjelle was 3-of-4 with five RBIs and two runs scored, including his fourth home run of the season. Thoma went 2-of-2 with two RBIs and three runs scored, including the inside the park home run which was his first home run as a Golden Eagle. Cullinane finished 2-of-3 with two RBIs and one run scored. Ethan Mushitz (Jr., SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.) was 1-of-3 with two runs scored. Anaya went 1-of-4, while Frazier was 1-of-3 with a run scored.

The loss for Bemidji State went to Ethan Webb, who allowed three earned runs and three unearned runs on six hits. Trevyn Wells gave up four earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in four innings. Mitchell Annis finished up the game for the Beavers as he shut down Minnesota Crookston in his one inning.

McNallan and Koty Kissack accounted for the two hits on the day for the Beavers.

Bemidji State struggled in the field in the second game as they had three errors on the day.

Minnesota Crookston jumped on Bemidji State early with six runs in the first inning. Hjelle opened up the scoring with a triple to right center to plate Mushitz and Thoma for the early 2-0 lead. Hjelle came in to score on a wild pitch in the next at-bat. The inning was extended by a dropped fly ball in center field as Wyatt Peppel (R-So., DH, Greenbush, Minn.) reached. Peppel came into score as Anaya reached on a single and move to second on an error at first base. Later in the frame, Cullinane doubled to left field to plate Frazier and Anaya to move the advantage to 6-0.

The Golden Eagles added two runs in the bottom of the third. Stewart scored on what should have been an inning-ending strikeout to Mushitz but a dropped third strike and a throwing error allowed the run to cross. Hjelle continued the inning with a single up the middle to bring in Thoma.

Minnesota Crookston opened up the game even more in the bottom of the fifth. Thoma hit a ball down the right field line that jumped over the head of the right fielder and into the right field corner. The freshman who grew up playing baseball around the Bemidji area, motored around the bases for the inside the park home run to plate himself and Cullinane. Two batters later, Hjelle hit a two-run blast to bring in himself and Mushitz to move the lead to 12-0.

Yutzrenka gave up his first hit since the first inning as Koty Kissack singled in the top of the seventh. Yutrzenka would get three quick outs after Kissack's single to get the win for Minnesota Crookston 12-0.

Minnesota Crookston returns to action Sun., April 15 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.